The present invention relates to electrical circuit breakers and methods for using circuit breakers.
Circuit breakers are electrical switches that are commonly used to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by too much current, such as can result from an overload or short circuit condition. Circuit breakers are typically designed to automatically trip open when an undesired condition is encountered, and they can also be reset to the closed position when the undesired condition is removed.
Some circuit breakers can be controlled (e.g., manually tripped or reset) remotely, while others must be controlled locally (e.g., physically at the breaker). For remotely-controllable breakers, solenoids are often used to facilitate remotely tripping or resetting the breaker.